“So, let’s talk about it. I don’t remember, how many times I’ve heard this refrain during the last year from a host of fair-weathered patriots that Russia has risen from her knees. She has risen once, then once again, and then one more time. She just keeps rising. But every time to make her ceremonial rising successful, she must kneel again. By gosh, I think Iunderstand this now! Let me share my discovery with you – what Russia is doing by her rising from her knees is called “hopack dancing”. Although she is dancing it’s squatting.”

The dancing implies that Russia is a player in the international arena. “The Hopack also known as a Poltalvski comes from the Ukrainian Cossack dancing and is reflective of the spirit of fearless soldiers and superb horsemen. It is exuberant, exciting, and characterized by fast running, leaping, and pas de basque steps, and by the difficult knee bend or prysiadka steps”1. I suppose metaphorically the prysiadka bend could be characterized as a squat. And in the squat is implied some sort of down cast failure of rising and staying risen!

Is this saying Russia never quite gets it right politically or socially and thus the people suffer and the knees are bent again with the body of Russia returning to a subjugated position in the world with their economy not really developing robustly and being geared to the good of the mass of Russians?

Does Russia ever get it right and get off it’s knees? It the next article on the Shanghais Cooperation Organization Conference being held in Yekaterinburg June 14-16, 2009, I will explore that question.